1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to outdoor bulls-eye target golf games and, more particularly, to outdoor bulls-eye target golf games incorporating skills applicable to traditional golf and especially incorporating chipping and pitching.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
The traditional game of golf as played on conventional nine or eighteen hole outdoor grass golf courses already has large numbers of enthusiastic participants of various ages and abilities while continuing to attract new participants at a rapid pace. The popularity of traditional golf has given rise to many various supporting activities and facilities, such as golf schools, driving ranges, putting greens, indoor golf courses and the like, by which players can practice and improve the skills utilized in traditional golf. Conventional golf courses, driving ranges and putting greens, however, are limited by their inability to adequately provide entertaining, enjoyable, motivational and informational practice scenarios for relatively shorter lofting shots such as chip and pitch shots. Traditional golf courses oftentimes provide practice tees for long shots and practice putting greens for putting, making it necessary for players to practice chipping and pitching on the regular greens. Practicing chipping and pitching by hitting to the regular greens has various drawbacks including interfering with regular play on the golf course, failing to provide quantifiable feedback to the player, and lack of competitive motivation and enjoyment. Although driving ranges are beneficial for practicing the full swing, they are ordinarily not used by players for the practice of chipping and pitching. Practice putting greens are typically limited in function and are not adequately designed for the practice of chip and pitch shots. Indoor facilities and some outdoor facilities have the additional disadvantage of employing artificial ground surfaces such that conditions do not replicate those encountered on a traditional golf course. Accordingly, one of the major obstacles to mastering chip and pitch shots in golf resides in the dearth of appealing and effective practice opportunities for chipping and pitching.
Target golf courses and/or target golf games have been proposed as an alternative or as an adjunct to traditional golf as represented by U.S. Pat. No. 2,164,808 to Everett, U.S. Pat. No. 3,649,027 to Vallas, U.S. Pat. No. 4,928,973 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,988,105 to Perry et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,704 to Mazer, U.S. Pat. No. 5,401,027 to Surbeck, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,671 to Picard.
The Everett and Surbeck patents relate to outdoor bulls-eye target golf games in which a target area is delineated into a plurality of target zones by a plurality of concentric ring members installed on a grassy piece of ground to form a physical or structural border for each target zone. The target area is hit to from a single tee area, and points are assigned to each target zone for purposes of keeping score. The ring members, even when flush with the grass, impede the natural bounce and roll of a golf ball coming into contact therewith such that the golf games disclosed by the Everett and Surbeck patents are played under conditions non-analogous to those of traditional golf. By impeding the natural bounce and roll of a golf ball, the ring members affect the final resting place for the ball so that the outcome of the shot provides little useful feedback applicable to traditional golf regarding the player's skill and improvement. In the case of pitching and chipping practice, wherein an objective of skill refinement involves controlling the amount of roll, the physical obstructions presented by the ring members defeat the practice objectives. Another drawback to the ring members is that they must be removed and replaced each time the grass is manicured, thusly detracting from ease of use. The Everett and Surbeck games ascribe a higher point total to a good score, thusly requiring the players to adopt a mind-set contrary to traditional golf. The Surbeck game is small in size and uses plastic balls and clubs providing little real benefit to the traditional golf game, much less chipping and pitching. The Everett game requires the presence of a caddy or attendant at the target area to knock balls that have landed in the target zone into holes corresponding to the target zones. The holes communicate with corresponding return conduits which carry the balls back to the tee area. The need for an attendant restricts spontaneous play, and the return conduits essentially fix the location of the tee area relative to the target area given the difficulties involved in re-routing the return conduits. The need for return conduits also undesirably adds to the structural and functional complexity and cost of the game. Each target zone of the Everett patent has two holes, and the presence of so many holes is distracting and confusing as the central target hole may be indistinguishable from the other holes when viewed from a distance. Consequently, a player may be uncertain as to which hole to aim for, further detracting from the practice benefits capable of being derived from the game. The Everett and Surbeck golf games do not provide any opportunities for walking such that players do not derive any physical conditioning benefits applicable to traditional golf.
The Vallas, Perry et al, Mazer, and Picard patents disclose target golf courses which are generally complicated in design and execution. The golf courses disclosed by Vallas and Perry et al require many target areas to which shots are hit from a single confined tee area. The need for many target areas adds significantly to the cost and complexity of the golf courses, and the need for many target areas is also a drawback of the golf courses disclosed in the Mazer and Picard patents. The golf courses disclosed by Vallas, Perry et al, Mazer and Picard include hazards or obstacles presenting a high probability for loss of golf balls, thereby deterring use of the golf courses for routine practice. The Mazer golf course is designed as an indoor installation and has the disadvantage of artificial surfaces and conditions not analogous to those of traditional golf. Games played on the Mazer and Picard golf courses are won by the player with the highest point total, thusly necessitating a mental adjustment from the scoring concepts of traditional golf.
Conventional target golf courses and/or games are generally not designed for players of varying skill and ability while still being motivational for all players. Conventional target golf courses and/or games are ordinarily limited in the number of players that may play at one time, thusly excluding group play for groups having relatively many players. It is also apparent that conventional target golf courses and/or games do not provide practice situations, especially for pitching and chipping, which allow performance to be quantified and improved upon under conditions similar to those associated with traditional golf so that skills acquired and reinforced in practice may be directly applied to traditional golf. Target golf courses and/or games as conventionally known do not allow participants to effectively identify weaknesses and/or degree of improvement. Conventional target golf courses and/or games are generally not adaptable for being laid out on an irregular piece of ground using the existing topography with minimal or no modifications. In addition, conventional target golf courses and/or games typically lack a readily understandable system of rules and scoring compatible with the concepts of traditional golf.
In light of the foregoing, there is a need for an outdoor bulls-eye target golf game which incorporates chipping and pitching shots taken under conditions analogous to those encountered in traditional golf while providing enjoyment, entertainment, quantifiable feedback and competitive motivation for players of varying skill and ability. The need exists for an outdoor bulls-eye target golf game available for play without the need for time-consuming setup or preparation and without the need for attendants or caddies. There is a further need for an outdoor bulls-eye target golf game capable of being played by relatively large groups of players and according to an uncomplicated, easily comprehensible system of rules and scoring compatible with the concepts of traditional golf. Another need exists for an outdoor bulls-eye target golf game that conserves balls while still providing various diverse practice scenarios that challenge various diverse skills used in traditional golf. Yet an additional need exists for an outdoor bulls-eye target golf game which may be installed as an essentially permanent facility having the attributes of simplicity and economy.